Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-04-21-Speech-3-057"
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"en.20100421.3.3-057"2
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"Mr President, yet again, this Parliament is being presented with substandard accounts and being asked to discharge them. These are accounts which the Court of Auditors has refused to give a positive statement of assurance – accounts which still fall short of being legal and regular. The auditors have said – again – that these accounts are riddled with irregularities, yet we are expected to rubber-stamp them.
I am pleased that Mrs Mathieu has recommended a postponement of discharge for the European Police College accounts. We will support that recommendation, as OLAF needs more time to conclude its investigation. Allegations have been made of fraudulent activity at that College, including the use of taxpayers’ money by staff to buy furniture for their personal use.
I can tell Parliament that the British Conservatives will not accept these irregularities. We shall refuse to grant discharge until such time as the Court of Auditors gives a positive statement of assurance.
Trust in politicians is at an all-time low, and we will reduce our standing further if we are seen to condone such waste. Every time we discharge substandard accounts, we encourage more waste and more fraud. Every time we vote to grant discharge, we send a signal to the Council, to the Commission and to our constituents that we do not treat this issue seriously.
My party will look particularly carefully at how Labour and Liberal Democrat MEPs decide to vote on this issue. They cannot argue at home that they want to bring change to politics – to clean up and reform politics – and yet, year on year, vote to accept these substandard accounts. Anyone who is serious about reforming this system and about protecting the taxpayer should vote against granting discharge."@en1
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